Holiday 2002

An important part of my life is travel.
Whenever I get the opportunity, I head off to new and interesting places.
For my annual holiday in 2002, I decided I wanted another round-the-world journey.
On this journey I was to see eight countries and in 6 weeks.
I travelled with my friend Ian and 'Santa's Little Helper'.
We left Sydney on 20 August, returning on 3 October.

Below are just a few of the hundreds of photos I took on the trip.

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Toronto

We flew QANTAS Sydney to Los Angeles (upgraded to Business),
American Airlines to Chicago then Toronto.

We stayed with two of Ian's friends, Shane and Michael.
They were the perfect hosts, making sure we made good use of our limited time in Toronto.

Santa's Little Helper at Niagara Falls Me at Niagara Falls Boat in the mist at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls town is like a theme park. Two main streets are full of amusements like these SLH had a bit of an accident Lucky we were staying with a vet 

21 August
- lunch at Zelda's on Church St
22 August
- Ontario Science Museum
- out to Woody's then
- Hoax Couture Fashion Show
23 August
- Niagara Falls
- dinner at The Looking Glass
- out to Five
24 August
- shopping
- out to Tallulah's Cabaret

New York

Flew American Airlines from Toronto to New York.
Hint: Take drinks and a good book to get through Customs and Immigration leaving Toronto.

Another friend of mine (Socrates) had offered for us to stay at his place on West 42nd St.

Times Square View from Empire State Building Socrates and Ian at Observatory on Empire State Building
Statue of Liberty - can't go in because of threat of terrorists SLH reading a plaque at Statue of Liberty 'Before and After from Statue of Liberty
'New York Stock Exchange. Note all the barricades to stop terrorists SLH at Fifth Avenue 

25 August
- drive around Manhattan
- out to Housewarming in Brooklyn
26 August
- walk around central Manhattan
- up Empire State Building
- Grand Central Station
- Penn Station
- clubbing
27 August
- Statue of Liberty
- went to see Hairspray at Neil Simon Thheatre
28 August
- clubbing

View 'New York Tourism' site
View 'Hairspray' site

London

Flew British Airways from New York to London.

Our stay in London was primarily to catch up with friends, so I didn't take too many photos.
We caught up with Deano and Nick (who kindly put us up), Bek, Shane, Daryl, and Kim.

Bek and Santa's Little Helper enjoying lunch in Earl's Court 

30 August
- lunch at Baluns Earls Court
- dinner at Balans
- out to Brompton's
31 August
- lunch with Daryl
- dinner with Kim at Barnes
- out to Heaven
1 September
- lunch with Bek
- out to Brompton's
2 September
- lunch with Shane at Gunnersbury

View 'London Tourist' site

Barcelona

Flew British Airways from London to Barcelona.
Stayed at Absolut Centro Hotel.

Gaudi's cathedral still under construction 

3 September
- drinks at Punto
- dinner at Dionisos
4 September
- out to Punto then Dietrich's
- out to Metro, Arena

View 'About Barcelona' site

Sitges

Caught train from Barcelona to Sitges.
Stayed at Hotel Los Globos.

Sitges is only about 30 kms south of Barcelona.
The airport is about halfway between the two.

The beach at Sitges. Not peak season so few people but still great weather 

6 September
- dinner at Flamboyant
- drinks at Parrot Bar
7 September
- beach
- dinner at Ma Maison
8 September
- lunch at Mont Roig
- shopping
- dinner at Mont Roig
9 September
- beach

View 'I Love Sitges' site

Rome

Caught train from Sitges to Barcelona airport.
Flew Iberian Airways to Rome.
Stayed at Hotel Buonarroti.

Hint: Bring a lot of film or a digital camera with lots of memory.
Even though I constrained myself, I still managed to take over 120 shots.

Outside the Colusseum The Forum Statues on top of St John Lateran Bascilica
One of the many bridges over the Tiber. The water flows quite rapidly here Some of the guards at St Peter's Inside the Colusseum, showing the area which was udner the orginal floor
Santa's Little Helper needed to stop for a coke and some pasta 

10 September
- visit Colusseum and Forum
11 September
- Basilica di Giovanni
- via della Croce
- Forum
- Isola Tiberium
- left bank of Tiber
- look to Castel Sant.Angelo
- St Peters Square and Basilica
- del Popolo
- up towards Galoppatoio
- down to Piazza Colonna
- to Pantheon
- back via Forum
12 September
- Fora Romana
- Colosseum
- Spanish Steps
- Trevi Fountain

Naples

Caught train from Rome to Naples.
Stayed at Hotel Ideal.

My recommendation is don't stay in Naples. I found it to be dirty, anarchic, and rude.
I believe they are going through their third (maybe fourth) uncompleted urban renewal project.

A typical example of the apartment blocks in Naples

Pompeii

Caught train from Naples to Pompeii for a day trip.

Hint: Take good walking shoes, plenty to drink and lots of film.
Give yourself lots of time - I think at least 4 hours is needed.

View from the entrance of Pompeii to Mt Vesuvius Forum Santa's Little Helper checking out some of the statues that were buried with the rest of the city
One of the many people recovered from the ashes. These are really just plaster casts of the gap left in the ash after the person rotted away A street in Pompeii A street in Pompeii

View 'Tour Italy' site

Isle of Capri

Caught ferry from Naples to Capri Island for a day trip.

Pool above Blue Grotto Santa's Little Helper overlooking Capri Town
Arch large enough for ferries to sail through Entrance to Blue Grotto - note the small dinghy coming out 

15 September
- Capri town
- taxi to Grotto Azurra
- drinks and cake at cafe above grotto
- bus to Anacapri
- walk to Marina Grande
- tour boat round island

Athens

We travelled by train from Naples to Bari, ferry to Patras then bus to Athens.
Stayed at Hotel Attalos.

Santa's Little Helper exploring the ruins Me at the Parthenon. Wouldn't you know it? They'd taken half of it away for restoration! Statue colums at Acropolis. Oh, and these aren't real - the real ones are in museums
Status in Acropolis museum. Not allowed to take photos of the statues with flashes, or with people in the shot. Santa's Little Helper enjoying the scenery 

17 September
- walk around the Plaka
18 September
- Acropolis
- Pathenon
- Acropolis Museum
- Ancient Agora
- walk around Plaka, National Gardens, EEmbassies etc

View 'Athens 2004 Olympics' site

Mykonos

Caught a ferry from Athens to Mykonos.
Stayed at Hotel Carrop Tree.

One of the many churches on Mykonos. This one is right at the waterfront. A typical streetscape in Mykonos Super Paradise Beach. Pretty ordinary by Australian standards. Coco's cafe above the beach is quite good, albeit very expensive.
Sunset from our verandah at the hotel. Looking at the hotel from the pool. Our room was top left. A church, adorned with flowers in celebration of a wedding.

Santorini

Caught a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini.
Stayed at Hotel New Haroula (this was probably the biggest disappointment of our trip).

Thira - on the edge of the caldera Donkeys on the steps from Thira to the old port (these weren't the ones that stampeded)
View down the steps to the old port. Boats at the old port 

23 September
- walk down to old port
- walked back up - stampeded by donkeys  on steps
- wandered down other side of island
- dinner in village
24 September
- tour: to highest mountain; old ruins;  black beach; winery

Istanbul

Flew with Olympic Airways from Santorini to Athens.
Stayed overnight, then flew with Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.
Stayed at Hotel Yigitalp. This was one of the best hotels we stayed in.

Turkish Airlines is surprisingly excellent in all things - service, catering, planes.
Hint: If you're planning a trip to Istanbul, double the amount of time you think you'll need. It's a fascinating place.

Inside the Blue Mosque The architecture in Istanbul is very diverse. The Taksim tram - I'm sure it's just for tourists. Beautiful? This palace appeared to be deserted. Oh, and on either side of this were another two grand palaces - both in use. More diverse architecture on the Bosphorus One of the two (very large) suspension bridges across the Bosphorus joining Europe and Asia A waterfront house - with entrance from the water to under the house. Santa's Little Helper found a friend in a town we stopped at on our Bosphorus boat tour. All along the Bosphorus were derelict properties like this one. 

26 September
- walked around old area
- Sultanahmet
- Blue Mosque
- Haghia Sophia
- Grand Bazaar
- Golden Horn waterfront
- Sishane (old shops look like straight  out of 19th century)
- Taksim (a bit cosmopolitan)
- Beyoglu
- dinner at hotel - excellent
27 September
- boat tour of Bosphorus $A15 each for 22.5 hours
- Spice Bazaar
- Grand Bazaar
- watch street sellers (everything from  toothpicks to Spirograph)
- lunch at Kaza restaurant $A17 for 2
- dinner at hotel

Bangkok

Flew with British Airways from Istanbul to London.
A few hours stopover, then we flew with QANTAS from London to Bangkok.
One of the disadvantages of our round-the-world ticket is we had to double back to London.
Stayed at Tarntawan Place Hotel.

This centrally-located hotel was excellent value and very comfortable. They provided Volvo cars for transfers to and from the airport (at very reasonable price). 

29 September
- check out night markets
- molested by elephant
- went to The Balcony bar then DJ Statioon nightclub
30 September
- quiet day
- to The Balcony
1 October
- shopping at department store (near skyyrail)
- to The Balcony
- shopping in night markets

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© 1997-2002 Richard Davies
Last updated 23 November 2002